(日本語)

Immigrants to the United States are divided into two categories: (I) those who may obtain permanent residence status without numerical limitation, and (II) those subject to an annual limitation. The latter category is further divided into (A) family-sponsored, (B) employment-based, and (C) diversity immigrants. Petition-based visa categories which have an annual limitation are issued in chronological order as determined by the date the immigrant visa petition was filed. Diversity Visa priority dates are determined by lottery.

Please visit the Visa Office web site to find out what the current priority dates are. Priority dates are updated every month and published in the Visa Bulletin.